


Don't Say You Love Me

by magnetar



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Pre-Slash, hux catches feelings, i guess?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-29
Updated: 2018-03-29
Packaged: 2019-04-14 17:12:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,196
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14140689
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/magnetar/pseuds/magnetar
Summary: General Hux uses a secure subspace comm channel to talk to Poe Dameron. He tells himself that he's using Dameron for information on the Resistance but he's starting to wonder if there's something more between them.





	Don't Say You Love Me

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Cuillere](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cuillere/gifts).



> Another reupload from my tumblr (@magnetvrs)! For Cuillere's prompt “Don’t say you love me.”. I've never written Poe or Damerux/Gingerpilot before so please excuse any oocness. I hope you enjoy! <3

The glow of the console casts the room in a strange, blue light. Hux can see himself reflected in the standard issue mirror that hangs next to the door of his quarters, and knows that he looks a strange figure. Hunched over the display screen, skin almost translucent and eye bags even deeper in the blue light he looks nothing like the General who had stood in front of the entire forces of the Force Order on Starkiller base just weeks before.

He pulls his coat around himself and quickly sweeps his eyes around his room. It’s empty as he had expected but still, his heart hammers in his chest and his palms feel slick with sweat. Hux has always been weak to a little self-indulgence, a little temptation but this is on another level. If he’s found out it won’t just be his career that’s over, his prestigious position in the First Order, but most likely his life too. It doesn’t stop him though, even though his fingers shake as he keys in the code for the secure subspace comm channel he’s set up.  The little hologram flickers up in front of him.

‘Hugs,’ even in hologram form, Dameron’s smile is the brightest thing in the room. The connection is stable enough that Hux can even see the lopsided dimples on his cheeks and the little crinkle between his eyebrows. He breathes out, his worries about betrayals and colluding with the enemy evaporating for the moment, at least and allows himself to slump a little in his chair.

‘Stop-… Look Dameron if you call me that again I’ll hang up on you,’ he snarls, without heat, ‘my name is Hux and you know it.’ He feels like he’s being childish, but he can’t find it in himself to care. It’s easy with Dameron, he makes Hux feel like he can loosen the tight hold he has over himself.

‘Oh, a challenge. Well alright, Armitage I won’t break your rules,’ it sounds strange hearing it from Dameron, from anyone. He hasn’t let anyone except his father call him that, but for Dameron, he will let it slide. ‘But you have to play too. Call me Poe, alright?’

His chest seizes. ‘Poe,’ he manages, after a few moments, and feels more than a little stupid. It feels ridiculously intimate, to just say Poe’s name. The First Order doesn’t allow the use of first names, so it seems like a huge statement to be allowed to say Poe’s name.

‘What did you want to talk about?’ Despite the poor quality of the image, he can see the little furrow between Poe’s brows as he shifts a little closer to his own console, all those lightyears away. Poe must be in some kind of storage or cargo hold, Hux decides. It looks like he’s sitting on something, like a large metal crate just visible as he shifts a little.

‘Do I need a reason? Maybe I just wanted to talk to you?’ He knows he’s being defensive, can’t help it around Poe who always makes him feel like off-balance. Poe’s hologram shimmers for a second, distorting and catching on the background behind him. Rows of crates and some kind of ammunition taken out of a case, but it’s only there for a second before the hologram snaps back to Poe’s body.

Poe laughs, eyes crinkling at the corners and visibly leans back in his chair. ‘Alright, alright that’s fair. Well, I guess, let me tell you about my day then,’ his eyes, _wide and the most beautiful brown_ Hux’s mind supplies, meet Hux’s through the hologram. Poe smiles wide and easy, like a cat laying out in the sun, and to his horror Hux feels his own face mirror it, his lips pulling up at the corners. Everything with Poe is easy.

‘I’m sure yours was much more interesting. I was fixing X-wings for most of it, they’re beautiful ships, the best to fly but they need a little love and care every now and then. I’ve been flying them as long as I can remember but there’s always more to learn.’ Poe’s smile is softer now, his eyes focused, ‘They were designed to be durable, without weaknesses but our ladies are getting a little older. We don’t have enough credits or resources to build any new ones, so I’ve been replacing fuel couplings all day.’

Poe holds his palms up to the holoprojector and Hux can just make out the dark oil, staining them. ‘We’re getting a big shipment of fuel in the next few days finally, we’ve been having to make do for months. So the General, our General that is,’ he says tongue poking out from between his teeth, ‘has got me working double shifts to fix them up in time. I barely had time to sneak away to talk to you.’ Hux takes a mental note of the information, as an uncomfortable feeling itching under his skin.

‘Poe,’ he wants to bite his tongue and swallow his words. To stop himself from this sentimental foolishness that will cost him everything. But he can’t – Poe was right to start with, he did have a reason to call him today. ‘The First Order will move against the Resistance tomorrow. We know the location of your base and we will strike early, from the air first before a ground attack to clean up any survivors. You must keep yourself safe.’ It tastes bitter on his tongue, to betray his own cause like this. But he knows that even if Poe tells the others, as he almost certainly will, there’s no way they can evacuate everyone and all of their supplies in time. It’s a calculated risk.

The Hologram Poe frowns at him before his face breaks out into a sly smile again. ‘Thank you for letting me know, it must’ve been for you. It shows how much you care even if you hide it. Y’know, Armitage, I lo-‘

‘Don’t say you love me. Don’t you dare,’ his voice comes out as a snarl, cutting Poe off as he feels a hot blush blooming on his cheeks. He knows he’s being defensive, revealing his weakness but he can’t stop the spike of anger that runs through him at Poe’s words.

Poe laughs, the sound of it making Hux grit his teeth. ‘You think that you’re manipulating me, drawing out information about the state of the Resistance – our location, our resources, what our next move will be,’ Poe leans closer, a smile wide and predatory on his lips, ‘but your fatal mistake is that you fail to realise that I have you wrapped around my little finger.’ He sits back, laughing again and wiggling his little finger at Hux. Hux feels frozen – he can’t look away, can’t even speak to deny Poe’s claims, as the realisation dawns on him. _Kriff._

‘Good talk,’ Poe blows a kiss towards him with a wink, ‘Let’s do it again sometime.’ Then Poe is gone, his holographic image distorting before it blinks away completely. Hux is alone again in his cold, empty quarters, his heart pounding. But he finds himself smiling. Poe will be back.


End file.
